Scarred
by Queen of Chestnuts
Summary: Ed Elric is studying hard to understand Dr. Marcoh's notes. Scar walks the streets of Central. When Ed sneaks out to have a few minutes to his thoughts alone, he comes into contact with the crazed killer. The most primal feelings of fear run deep in Ed.
1. Chapter 1

My first fanfiction that I actually put up on here. It's been a long time since I went through this site. My girlfriend gave me ideas when I read her story. That was two, maybe three days ago. So, she brought me back home, to . It's been too long. This is a short start, but I've already got more written than this. I won't try to give too much away with author's notes, I just wanted to nag everybody before they read. Fullmetal Alchemist is the creation of Hiromu Arakawa. The only thing I'd take credit for is my own writings, and characters that I invent.

And now I'll quit nagging. Enjoy.

* * *

"Edward…"

What?

"Edward…"Neck. Pain.

"Ed."

Face. Wet?

"Ed."

Nag. Who?

"Brother!"

Edward's eyes parted open. They were dark and heavy with sleep. "Nngh…What?"

He leaned back. On a bed? Oh, yeah. Edward knew why his face was damp, now that he was somewhat awake. Edward leaned back and popped the vertebrae in his spine. Better. "What is it, Al?"

A familiar animated suit of armor clanked in front of him from his side, setting forth a tray of breakfast: Eggs. Bread with butter. Sausage. Drink? Check. Edward was thirsty more than anything else, since he had slobbered all over the table, and his face. Edward's hand reached for the dark cup, and brought it to his lips. He drank before really looking and then spit it back in the cup. White stuff. Gross! He put the cup down quickly.

"Al, you know I don't drink that crap!"

Edward detested milk with a passion. Alphonse sighed softly. He knew once again that he couldn't convince Edward that he should drink more milk. Instead, Alphonse asked how his research went before he fell asleep. Ed picked up the sausage from his plate and bit into it. Alphonse understood him better than anyone, so Ed knew he'd be forgiven for talking with his mouth full.

"Still haven't found what makes the Stone. Sorry, Al…"

Alphonse stood up straight.

"I know you can do it, Ed. You're smart and determined. If anyone can figure out Doctor Marcoh's notes, it's you."

Edward smiled just a little bit.

"At least one of us has faith in me."

He'd already finished his sausages and was plowing through the eggs. Alphonse scolded his older brother.

"You're going to get sick one day if you keep doing that. Didn't Aqroya teach you anything?"

Edward paused only momentarily to think. What had happened to him there, again? Ed feigned having no recollection of getting food poisoning. He shoveled his eggs into his mouth.

"Alphonse, whatever would that phantom thief what's-her-name have to do with Doctor Marcoh?"

Al found that his brother could be such a terrible faker sometimes.

"Nothing, brother. Clara didn't have anything to do with his research."

Edward gave a cheerful thumb up.

"Exactly!"

He had soaked up the egg yolk with his bread and now the plate was practically empty. How long had that taken? Alphonse counted five to eight minutes.

Alphonse thought to chide his brother once more, but he knew that it was wasted effort. Instead, he gave the plate and still full cup to one of the military officers outside th doors and kindly asked them to take it back to the mss hall. As he clamored back to his elder brother, he saw that he was already back to work. If his armor could allow him emotional expression, Al would have been smiling. Alphonse had always admired his brother Edward so much. He (tried to) quietly sit down at a seat made to fit his massive size and weight, and started looking through the notes. That mousy librarian girl, Sciezska, had done them huge favor. To think that one female had been able to recall an entire manuscript. It was so long, too. Al was trying to help, but it was really hard. And besides… at first glance, this was a cookbook, not an alchemy book. Doctor Marcoh had lead them this far. Now they had to prove that the faith that people had placed in the Elric brothers was correctly placed. Both were working under immense pressure, and they had hoped to be producing a pure Philosopher's Stone soon.


	2. Chapter 2

When I aligned the last chapter to the center, it messed with it more than I thought it would. A few things were out of place, and I'm lazy, so I won't fix them at this particular moment. I'm still learning the document manager for the site, so it might take me a while to figure all of this stuff out. Otaku's trying, I promise. Leave me alone or I'll cry! .... Anyways. Fullmetal Alchemist still belongs to Hiromu Arakawa, and I'm not gonna say it again.

Here's to hoping you enjoy the second chapter. I promise to think of names eventually. 3

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Edward felt exhausted. How long had he been at work today? He recalled some kind of lunch, and brief flashes of conversation with the two aides – Maria Ross and Denny Bloch. Edward had used some of his State Alchemist's funding to pay for document forgers , typists and human photocopiers. It was easier that way; it would allow him to circle and highlight parts of the cookbook without damaging the original. He yawned heavily once more, and leaned back. Breasts? Breasts… Breasts! Edward's face turned pink, and he sat back up, quickly doling out an apology as he turned to see who it was.

"Sorry, Lieutenant Ross."

The lieutenant only smiled and placed ands on his shoulders.

"It's all right, sir. It's my fault for standing so closely behind you."

Edward still felt embarrassed, though. He attempted to diffuse the situation.

"What's up, Ross?"

Her answer was more kind that she would have expected. "Alphonse went to go find something for the great Fullmetal Alchemist to eat, lest he faint form malnutrition. And…" Ross paused in her sentence. And? And what? His question was quickly answered, however. Edward could feel the thumbs of the woman pushing into his muscles. A massage. Great. His right shoulder always had a lot of tension because of his heavy prosthetic arm. Accursed steel was heavy. Edward's back was sore, from being hunched over at the desk. He allowed Lt. Ross's finger to press along his back, and she massaged the spots Alphonse had (unknown to Ed) told her about. "Hey, Lieutenant. Do you know anything about cooking?"

The woman pulled away a bit to look at Edward's scribbled, terrible chicken scratch of handwriting. It looked more like Ed had a severe case of ADHD and freaked out on a sugar rush.

"Major Elric, your handwriting is an abortion on paper. But no, there's no way I could help you. Both Sergeant Bloch and I always eat in the mess hall if we're hungry." At that moment, Bloch happened to come in, talking with Al. He had enough food for three people. The three that could digest food. It made Edward a little down to eat – Al couldn't enjoy those tastes and great food that so many other people loved. But he knew that speaking out about that would depress everyone in the room, so instead he asked what was for dinner. Bloch came forth and offered Ed his plate. Ed spied some meat and mixed vegetables. Blah. Couldn't they bring him some sugar or something? He took his plate through, and thanked them before he started eating. He quietly poked the vegetables around a little bit. He wasn't hungry now. The alchemist didn't put up a fight, though. He was too tired for that. He ate his food, and asked the two who were beneath him in rank about the whereabouts of Scar.

The lieutenant replied to him while Bloch was busy having the munchies. "He's still roaming the streets of Central, sir. Colonel Mustang is under the impression that Scar may be utilizing the sewer system."

Ed looked up from his dinner and spoke.

"Well, that is the best way to get from point A to point B without being seen."

They could all agree upon that.

As much as Edward posed and acted fearless, Scar did make him nervous. This scarred man had killed many military men. He'd even managed to kill Brigadier General Basque Gran. It was quite an accomplishment. Sure, Gran was a prick, but how had Scar so easily killed him? It was almost frightening. Hughes had said something earlier about that: How Brigadier General Gran's head had been turned into 'hamburger meat'. It must have been a scary way to die. Edward couldn't understand why this man was targeting State Alchemists this way. It wasn't unusual to find ambivalence towards the military to target military, but this guy's M.O. was just crazy. He apparently blew them apart from the inside. With alchemy, this unknown scarred man was able to break apart the bonds of the human body. Ed felt a small quiver run down his body. Alphonse looked at Edward, then to the young lieutenant. Her maternal instincts kicked in, and she walked towards the major. A warm hand fell upon Ed's head.

"Are you feeling all right, sir?"

The elder Elric brother looked up.

"Huh? What is it, Lieutenant?" She was quiet, trying to see if he had a fever or something. Though, he was probably just tired. She didn't feel any unusual warmth. Hm. Ross pulled away and suggested that maybe Ed should take a nap, or maybe a short walk outside. Naturally, a walk outside would have meant that Edward couldn't really walk - Ross and Bloch had been assigned to baby-sit him. Sleep sounded nice, but Edward's time was precious to him. He was tired of seeing Alphonse in that armor. He knew his younger brother wanted to feel human again - to get tired, to get hungry, or even those less desirable feelings, like pain when he got hurt. How could he sidestep this offer, though? His mind pondered over how to escape for a while without getting in trouble. As he finished his dinner, he felt a heaviness in his body. He needed to use the restroom. It was then that his mind devised a temporary escape. The restrooms by the mess hall had windows that were small, but big enough that he might fit through. Ed got up and stretched. "I'll be back in a few minutes, you guys."Ross had collected his plate and asked where Ed was going. He muttered that he was going to go take a piss and then walked towards the mess hall restrooms. Both the lieutenant and Al felt restless, but sergeant Bloch's presence made them feel less on edge.


	3. Chapter 3

I finally got to updating Scarred. :D Please read and review, because I'm a total lover of reviews now. It makes me a happy Chestnut Queen, and makes me wanna write more. I did this in a free half block at my school in the library. Considering I never actually wrote anything except maybe two sentences, I think it looks fine. I'm thinking about doing a Gravitation or Deathnote fanfic as well. I'll probably go home and search through all my manga to see what other fanfics I can do. Last count I had over 2000 dollars worth of random manga. Some of them I haven't even gotten to read yet because I have way too many books.

I never met my 4 chapter update promise. :( I'm sorry Cat-san! I love you lots I promise! Here's chapter three, though.

So enjoy, kay? And don't forget to review~!

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Edward slipped into the cool darkness of night. Central City's nighttime climate was comfortably cool, which made the alchemist feel a little better. While the city still had its problems, at least it was nice outside. He could hear the cheerful din of its nighttime denizens. There were noises from the bar, and from a far off carnival that was being held by the military. Führer Bradley had come to have this idea at seemingly complete random, and went through with it. He said it would be good for the morale of the troops and of all the citizens. It was a great, grand fair, which had visitors even from other cities in the country of Amestris. If only a few of his old friends from Resembool had the remote chance of being there… Edward could only wish. He hadn't invited Winry or anybody from his hometown, and the chances of that rural area even hearing of this fair was quite slim. Because no one he wanted to be with at that moment would be around, Edward instead decided to casually stroll around Central. He took the south main street down into the more slummish parts of the city. He knew here that some of the Ishbalans hid in plain site from the military's watchdogs. At the same time, Ed knew that not all of these Ishbalans were bad guys – that was like saying all alchemists were only out for themselves. He knew better than to judge an entire group by the actions of a few. As he walked around, he saw a few children (and a few adults) running north in happy giggles and shouts of joy to the carnival. He smiled softly and wished them a happy time. As he kept walking without quite knowing where he was going, he about walked into the street and heard a horn blaring at him to get out of the way. Edward swore and quickly finished crossing before he got flattened even shorter than he already was. Then he got upset with himself for calling himself short when he was always so angry to be called midget. After he was done mentally belittling himself, he looked up, understanding that he really had no idea where he was now. Maybe it would have been best if he had stayed in the care of Bloch and Ross.

It was obviously too late for that though. He'd gone far from where he was only a little while ago. The building before him was dark, and looked abandoned. He found a sign that told him this was the fifth laboratory for alchemists in Central. Edward thought to himself. He couldn't recall ever hearing about a fifth laboratory, just the main four. Was this place shut down? Hmm. It made him think. Why would the main city and military headquarters close up an alchemy lab?

Just then, he heard a voice behind him. "Brother!"

Edward turned around, surprised. "How'd you track me down, little brother?" Then he decided that wasn't such an important question. "Hey, do you know anything about a fifth laboratory?"

Alphonse told his elder brother that he couldn't recall ever hearing of such a place. That only made Edward more curious than before. Why would no one know of this place? He walked towards a telephone booth on the curb and went to call Hughes to ask him some questions. Hughes had always been a major help. Being in the department of investigations did have its advantages. The phone rang a couple of times and Ed squirmed, hoping it would patch through and that his quarters hadn't been wasted. Al asked him what he was doing but Ed told him to shush for a few minutes. The call eventually did go through.

"Hughes! I need your help. Do you know anything about a fifth alchemy lab in Central?"

Hughes' greeting wasn't an answer, but instead some babble about how his daughter was now learning to work a tricycle, and how he was so proud that she was growing up greatly. He told Ed they should come back to visit them sometime, and that Elysia wanted to see her big brothers. Naturally, this only provoked Ed, and he repeated his question about the lab.

Hughes mumbled to himself for a few minutes and then gave Ed the answer he was looking for. He told Ed that it was shut down a while back. He also told him about a few of the buildings nearby. There was a prison practically right across the street. Before Hughes could continue giving him any information, Edward hung up the phone and Al ran after him back towards the building. Hughes looked at his phone momentarily and sighed. He knew those boys were probably getting into another mess and hoped that they would be all right.

Alphonse helped Edward break into the building via hopping him over the fence, then finding a back door that wasn't tricked out with security. Edward wasn't going to let Al leave just yet, knowing that his little brother always helped him out in a jam and that this was one of those situations where such a problem would likely occur. That's the way it always was. None of the doors to the lab were open, but Ed spied an opening through a small vent.

"Okay Al, lift me up on three."

The brothers counted, then Edward was hoisted up by his younger but much larger brother into the vent, and Ed crawled into the laboratory. Strange how such a spot didn't have any security system at all. But for an abandoned place, this lab sure did have a lot. Ed's thoughts were that they had something good to hide, and he was crawling in to find it.

Ed successfully got in without much problems.


End file.
